Visit to Guwahati

On March 2nd, 2017 we boarded a flight to Guwahati transiting from Delhi. Just could not get to feel how big Delhi is however, walking around the massive airport really does make one feel like one has travelled a long distance. We were kind of lost in the airport going about finding and locating the departure gate for the flight to Guwahati. 

In the meantime, we stopped at the food court on the way to get the gate number for depature.... I made up my mind to have South Indian dish—idlli,dosa and woda with shambar and ordered one while she had KFC. The thing that I ordered was  kind of stale and contaminated food that made me sick which I realised after few minutes of eating. I kind of  felt upset stomach and went down all day long. Finally it was just the time to get back to Guwahati again and in the late afternoon we arrived in the Guwahati airport. Krishna, our friend was already there with his friend in a taxi waiting for us to arrive at the terminal. We got into the cab and set on the freeway to Krishna’s house. Well this was my first journey to Guwahati with her, biggest city of the Indian state of Assam and also the largest metropolis in northeastern India. A major riverine port city along with hills, and one of the fastest growing cities in India, Guwahati is situated on the south bank of the river Bharamaputra. It is called the ''Gateway to North East India', also a city illustrated as city of holy shrines.  Guwahati is also known as the “city of temples”due to the existence of many ancient temples here. Guwahati is a sprawling city beside the Brahmaputra river known for holy sites like the hilltop Kamakhya temple, featuring shrines to the Hindu deities Shiva and Vishnu, and to the east, 18th century Navahraha temple is an astronomical centre with planetary shrines. Umananda temple, dedicated to Shiva and covered with engravings, stands on Peacock island in the river.  I, my wife  and Krishna got in the Varuna express at 4:55 A.M. on 3rd of March 2017 and set out for the worship to Khamahkya temple. So we moved off to catch a glimpse of this famous city from the hilltop. As we were seated on the bus after few minutes of travelling, I saw a big statue of Bhupen Hazarika, one of the most well-known personalities from Assam, India. He was an Indian playback singer, lyricist, musician, poet, actor, filmmaker and politician from Assam, widely known as Sudha Kontho. I very much admired this personality and his music.  We also planned to visit Assam State Zoo cum Botanical garden, and other places like Umananda temple, Purva Tirupati Sri Balaji temple, Srimanta Sankaradeva Kalakshetra— a large cultural center features a museum, library & open-air theater with mountain views, Shraddhaanjali Kanan park— a scenic, landscaped park featuring many flower gardens and sculptures, plus play areas for children and beautiful art installations and the fancy bazaar ( market). So after putting our bag and baggage into Krishna’s house, we hired a tempo and first went to zoo. As as we entered, we first noticed a board, hanging and declaring “The most dangerous animal on the planet”. I got thrilled and as I moved near the board, there was mirror reflecting my self and for a moment, I thought,” is it true?”

I saw a bear, Giraffe, rhinoceros, lion, tiger, hippopotamus, deers, crocodiles and snakes and felt the rich diversity and incredible beauty of existence. I begin to ponder,” why and how existence is so diverse?Does the principal of entropy in physics correspond to the diversity of existence? Does diversity has a class, like diversity in different species and diversity in the same species? Does existence plays permutation and combination while forming a new species or it is deterministic? Let’s leave it what ever it is, but there is beauty in diversity, caressed by curiosity and inquisitiveness.
Guwahati is known for its rich culture and tradition, celebration of festivals, cuisine, people and its cosmopolitan nature. After that we went to Umananda temple (Shiva temple) on the peacock island in the river that attracts visitors by boats and ferry, I have no such keen interest in historic buildings but for the sake of passing time I went with my wife and her friends. It began to rain heavily and soon roads got flooded with water, cuddled with mud and dirt. Somehow we managed to stand just below a building. As soon as, raining reached a moderate level we got into a horse-rickshaw and with an amicable jerks and comfortable mumbling sound, we set out to investigate the historic facts on historic rickshaw, for just thirty rupees. We just saw  Chita and left other for other days and unfortunately for seeing others, other day was not in our fortune. I do not know if time travel is possible in future(as Stephen Hawking says, it will never be )or not and for me, there is only one importance of historical things is that seeing them, snap shooting them and realizing them, makes you to travel in past to sense the unknown and to quench the inquisitiveness. It is travel through mind, if not through your body.
Finally, we set forth to satiate our appetite. I am not strictly a vegetarian but I prefer to be a vegetarian as it has aesthetic value. We ordered onion -Kulcha, mix-veg and maushroom-matar with a sweet-corn soup and finally Rashmalai as a finishing dish. I found the food delectable with a luscious scent, cooked in a hygienic way. Every time  I was taking a piece food into my mouth, I can feel the relishing and rejuvenating sense arising through my taste buds and reaching to my brain, gratifying and warming my hunger in a charismatic way.
And finally, good news my wife’s college finally approved to provide her a reference letter from GMIT and  accepted the authorisation letter for her friend to collect certificate on her behalf for her BSc IT degree course. Soon we are setting out for our first journey to Guwahati together. And one thing also after seeing Guwahati after long time, I am feeling more elated now to be exploring the beauty of the city for its cordial, generous and warm welcome and also for its lush, green, sparkling and beautiful surrounding.